Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - Self Care At Christmas...Give this Gift to Yourself! | Clutterbug Podcast # 67

Episode Date: December 3, 2018

Sometimes in order to get more done, we need to relax. Sometimes in order to love being around people, we need some alone time. It's ok to take time for yourself. Self care isn't selfish, it's self love.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys and welcome back to the Clutterbug podcast. Today we're talking about self-care at Christmas. So thanks so much for joining me. We're talking about self-care today because it's like a hot topic all over the place. But I never really understood, I guess, what it meant. I hear people talking all the time about taking time for yourself and and making sure that self-care is part of your weekly schedule and daily schedule. But what the heck does that even really look like, right? I think for a lot of people it looks like exercise. Me, that's not going to happen for me. I think it also looks like meditation, which is something that I've tried. And I just, I want it to be something I can do, but I just, I can't.

I just can't. My ADD brain's like, oh, man, I just can't get into the meditation. So I think what self-care is for me is taking time to do nothing, nothing, but like productive nothing. So what I do right now, especially during this time of year when I'm super stressed out, I mean, the holidays for me is becoming less about the magic and the awesomeness and the family and the giving and the joy and the wonder and more about the work that's involved and just the stress and all the things I have to remember to do and the people I have to shop for and I have to make sure I go, we have parties every Saturday and Sunday from now until Christmas and even after Christmas.

And some Saturdays there are three parties scheduled and we can't possibly make it to all of them. So it's making those tough decisions about which family we say no to or which friends we can't make it to. And I always just feel guilty, just anxious, overwhelmed this time of year. So I'm taking on some self-care. And usually what happens when I feel really overwhelmed is I ostrich, that's what I call it, when you put your head in the sand and you procrastinate the things you have to do. But I procrastinate with things like watching Netflix or surfing the internet or looking at really terrible Facebook updates of people that I hardly know. And that's what I do. And I don't feel rested after that. I don't feel relaxed. I feel even more guilt because it hasn't recharged my batteries and I haven't

accomplished anything on the list. So this is the new approach that I'm taking to self-care. I'm the type of person and you may be too that in order to feel energized, I have to also feel rested. In order to feel positive and happy, I have to take that time to recharge my battery to be alone. In order to be a room fill of people and have like enjoy myself at a party, I have to have that alone time to sort of compliment that. So here's what I'm doing. I'm scheduling myself some self-care and what my self-care looks like is basically alone time. It's things that I really want to do that make me feel happy and relaxed and energized, but are not those things that are just procrastination. So step one when dealing with self-care and making sure that you're taking care.

of yourself so you can take care of your family and you can be the best you that you can be over the holidays is to make a list which sounds counterintuitive doesn't it relax and just enjoy yourself and make a list but if you make a list of the things that actually you want to do during your me time you're not going to be wasting it because indecisions are real thing it's like oh i have a couple hours to myself oh i'll just you know watch some crappy Netflix movie and before you know it that time is up and you don't feel fulfilled. So make a list. There are books I want to read. Books I want to read. I love just sitting in my hot tub. There are Christmas movies that I do want to watch, but I want to watch them with my kids, things they've never seen like the nightmare before Christmas.

So I'm making a list of all of these things that I really want to do that are relaxing. They're basically the nothing. I want to stay in my PJs all day and bake cookies with the kids. I'm making a list of all of these. these things that I want to do. And so when I do have those times, I can refer to my list instead of wasting it doing things that just absolutely 100% don't bring me happiness. The other thing that I have to do and that you have to do too is schedule yourself some me time. And sometimes it feels selfish, doesn't it? Like, I'm going to go out to dinner in a movie by myself or with a girlfriend. that seems really selfish to do to our family, but that is exactly what we need to do if we're

craving that refresh your battery time. As a mom, everything seems to be about my family, right? Just my kids and their activities and I'm running here and there and I'm making dinners and I'm grocery shopping and I'm cleaning the house and I'm doing laundry and I'm trying to do my job so we can earn money for the family. And it all comes down to giving for others. really. I mean, definitely I'm part of the family, so it includes me, but there isn't a lot of, like, selfishness going on. And there needs to be. We need to put ourselves first sometimes in order to really feel happy and not feel resentful about when we do have to do those things for our family. So when I take time for just me, I don't feel like, oh, I have to pick up after people or,

oh, I'm grocery shopping again. Or it feels like, like, there's more of a balance. And so it's really, really, really important that you schedule time for you and that you take it and that you do not feel guilty about it. And this comes with practice. And let me tell you there's going to be probably some resistance from your spouse, from your children, because this isn't something that, if you're like me, that you've taken time for yourself very often in the past. so there could be some resistance in the beginning but I want you to push through it because you're worth it you are worth it and we have to stop feeling bad about about taking time for ourselves we have to stop feeling bad about those days that we do nothing even when we have lots of things to do because

that doing nothing is doing something and the most important something it's filling us back up it's rejuvenating our soul or some kind of crap that people say but it really truly is so i want you to make a list of the things that you want to do that your self-care looks like maybe yours is going to the gym or going for a walk every day or on tuesday night going to the movie theater with a girlfriend or by yourself wouldn't that be amazing and just like watching a movie or going shopping but not for Christmas for like you and just buying yourself a new Christmas outfit and not feeling bad about it. That's the type of self-care that we need to make sure we're doing, especially during this time of year when things are hectic and crazy and insane. And in order for us to meet all of the expectations

and all of the things we have to do, we have to do it relaxed and happy. That's the best gift that we can give to our family is us being relaxed and happy. And the other part that goes along with that is doing, making sure that our home is a relaxing oasis, but doing it for us. So I, part of my self-care is every night I tidy at my house. And I know, that's like, oh, it's work and oh, you'd rather, that doesn't sound like self-care cast. Well, at the time, it really isn't. But the next morning, that's when I get my gift. Because when I wake up to a space that's chaotic and messy and there's piles of laundry, it brings me down. I feel like crap. And so when I schedule myself time to make sure that I'm keeping up on those things, I feel good. I feel great, actually. I feel more energized and happier.

So this is the time of year when usually those things would slide because there's a lot going on. but this is the most important time of year to not let those little things slide. Now, I'm not suggesting that you completely, you know, declutter your entire house right now or reorganize things right now, but keeping up on the daily things like dishes and laundry and tidying your surfaces so you wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and energized and positive about yourself, that's why that is so important. So make yourself a list. Make yourself a self-care list of all the things that you want to do when you do have some free time.

Schedule yourself in some of that free time. Schedule Tuesday night to go see a movie or to go out for dinner or have coffee with a friend. Schedule those times for you to fill up your tank and maybe your tank is like me and it's doing the nothing. So schedule a Friday night that you are going to order a pizza and stay in bed and you're just going to have some meat. time alone while the rest of your family does their own thing. That sounds really horrible, doesn't it? But it isn't. It isn't if that's what you need to feel invigorated all over again. So it's a gift to your family to take time for you. And we have to remind ourselves not to feel guilty about that. So make yourself a self-care list. Schedule yourself some time and make sure that you're doing your nightly tidy up routine so that every morning when you wake up you're waking up to a

tidy home that is the best way to feel just great about yourself and energized and able to tackle all the extra crap that's coming into our lives this time of year when we wake up to a clean slate okay so that's it it's a quick podcast today i want to thank you guys so much for listening make sure you take time for yourself over the holidays because you deserve it. I'll see you guys next time.